Offer to the World

"We make this proposal because it is the right thing to do," said the President of the U.S. "We are not making it in any sudden spirit of optimism. We are not making it as a last gesture of despair. We are making it because we share, with all the members of the United Nations, the responsibility of trying to bring about conditions which will assure international peace."

Under the glare of television lights, Harry Truman was speaking to the nation and over its head to the U.N. Assembly meeting in Paris about the West's "fresh approach" for disarmament. Conceived ten months ago by the State Department for presentation to the U.N.'s Paris meeting, the U.S. plan had been endorsed and adopted by France and Britain.

"This Is Our Hope." The Western Big Three Powers proposed: P: An inventory of all armed forces and armament, the inventory to be made in each country by U.N. inspectors who are nationals of other countries. P:The inventory would be conducted by stages, "disclosing the least vital information first and then proceeding to more sensitive areas."

P:To prevent treachery, the inspection would be a continuing one--"it cannot be a one-shot affair." Atomic weapons would presumably be counted last. "Such weapons would ultimately be prohibited and atomic energy controlled under the provisions of the United Nations plan," said Truman.

The U.S. would support that plan (although the Russians have repeatedly rejected it) until a better one was devised. When the census was complete, formulas could be devised to reduce armaments. "It might be possible," suggested Truman, "to agree that each country would have armed forces proportionate to its population, with a ceiling beyond which no country could go. Furthermore, each country might be limited to using no more than a fixed portion of its national production for military purposes."

The three Western powers asked that discussion begin at once, made it clear that no final agreement could be reached until Communist aggression ceased in Korea. But, Truman insisted, "It can be done. And if it is done, think what a prospect would open up for the future of mankind . . . There would be greater freedom, greater production, greater enjoyment of the fruits of peaceful industry. Through the United Nations we could wage the only kind of war we seek--the war against want and human misery. In the lifetime of our own generation, we could bring about the greatest period of progress for the world in all recorded history. This is our vision. This is our hope."

Man Who Laughs. The Russians promptly reacted, with a sneer from Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky. He laughed (see INTERNATIONAL).

To Russian charges that the U.S. was arming for war, the U.S. had retorted that it was arming only because it had to. Last week's offer was to quit arming--if the Russians would quit too. By his retort, Vishinsky proved, if it needed proving again, that U.S. rearmament is not a matter of choice but of harsh necessity.

In a sense, President Truman's offer had the defect of all proposals for disarmament or arms limitation: it attacked the symptom rather than the disease. Yet in an atomic age, any fundamental plan for international security is bound to include arms limitation and international inspection.

By their cynical rejection of the U.S. plan, the Russians handed the democratic world a propaganda victory.

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